Accumulator for preoiling

[CheezWhiz]

I've seen a few threads on the board about using a preoiler but mostly about daily drivers. Curious about using a Canton or Moroso oil accumulator to preoil before startup on a car that gets driven infrequently, maybe once or twice per month (65 GTO). Also the car might sit for four or five months over the winter before a cold start in the spring.

Worth the effort and expense, or nah?

 

[Brian123]

I've seen a few threads on the board about using a preoiler but mostly about daily drivers. Curious about using a Canton or Moroso oil accumulator to preoil before startup on a car that gets driven infrequently, maybe once or twice per month (65 GTO). Also the car might sit for four or five months over the winter before a cold start in the spring.

Worth the effort and expense, or nah?

Yes!

 

[demarpaint]

I'd say yes, I used one for well over 35 years now. Mine is an electric pump which works off a toggle switch, and feeds oil into the oil gallery via a Tee plumbed into the block where the oil sending unit is on my 88 E-150 4.9L. I flip I switch on watch pressure build before turning the key. When I have pressure in the normal range I start the engine and turn off the pump.

 

[atikovi]

Worth the effort and expense, or nah?

On a high dollar delicate exotic, maybe. On an iron block muscle car, not so much. I assume being carburated and sitting for a few weeks, it doesn't light up the moment you turn the key. The 5-10 seconds you crank it will be enough time build oil pressure.

 

[CheezWhiz]

On a high dollar delicate exotic, maybe. On an iron block muscle car, not so much. I assume being carburated and sitting for a few weeks, it doesn't light up the moment you turn the key. The 5-10 seconds you crank it will be enough time build oil pressure.

but isn't that the point? to have oil pressure before the engine starts cranking?

 

[Son_of_shots]

I've seen a few threads on the board about using a preoiler but mostly about daily drivers. Curious about using a Canton or Moroso oil accumulator to preoil before startup on a car that gets driven infrequently, maybe once or twice per month (65 GTO). Also the car might sit for four or five months over the winter before a cold start in the spring.

Worth the effort and expense, or nah?

Not needed, just run proper oil viscosity for your measured bearing clearances

 

[atikovi]

but isn't that the point? to have oil pressure before the engine starts cranking?

The cranking is what builds oil pressure. Are you worried about not having oil pressure WHILE cranking, for what, 2 seconds? There is going to be a film of oil on the parts even after sitting for a year. And there is hardly any stress on the parts at 200 or 300 rpm.

 

[Propflux01]

Doesn't 75-90% of engine wear occur on startup?

 

[CheezWhiz]

The cranking is what builds oil pressure. Are you worried about not having oil pressure WHILE cranking, for what, 2 seconds? There is going to be a film of oil on the parts even after sitting for a year. And there is hardly any stress on the parts at 200 or 300 rpm.

i mean that's why i asked! my engine builder said he has a few racers that use them and they bring the engines in for a refresh every few years and the bearings look perfect. but that's a small sample size, could be due to any number of factors.

when i do start it after a long spell, it takes some cranking to fill the fuel bowls before it fires up. so i guess the question is how well that film will hold up during that process?

 

[jhellwig]

It made it 60 years without a preoiler……

 

[Patman]

While in theory this device is a good idea, I think it’s not entirely necessary either. When I first started driving I used to obsess over my engines on cold starts, to the point where I would even use my block heaters in warmer temperatures too. But there are plenty of engines that have lasted hundreds of thousands of miles without resorting to anything like this. Why complicate things? I think that one of the best things you can do to get longer life out of your engine is to drive it gently until the oil comes up to temperature.

Also, look at it this way. If it’s a car that is not getting driven all that much, you probably won’t put enough miles on it to ever wear out the engine anyway.

 

[Hohn]

There is going to be a film of oil on the parts even after sitting for a year. And there is hardly any stress on the parts at 200 or 300 rpm.

That film is far less robust than you might think. I've posted elsewhere my experience seeing rust on the camshaft of an engine that sat unused for a couple months. Granted, this was in a drydock near saltwater, but it shattered my conception of just how robust an oil film really stays behind after prolonged sitting.

This was with 15w40 diesel oil, so not exactly thin stuff.

I don't think an accumulator does anything useful for startup. For one, most are designed to hold pressure for seconds, not months. They are for racing and the rare event where high G loads cause an oil starvation condition.


A better approach would simply be to install a fuel shutoff and a master ignition disconnect. Put a battery tender on it and once a month or so, crank over the engine on the starter so it has good oil pressure without drawing in fuel or firing a plug.

A non-firing crank is better than even a prelube pump because it distributes oil more effectively.

 

[oil pan 4]

There's still plenty of oil in the bearings even after an engine has sat for a decade.